Along Route 74: October definitely not my favorite time of year

This particular column might be right out of a Seinfeld episode. I can see Jerry and George having a conversation on this topic.

Let’s discuss the great month of October which is now upon us.

As months go, this is one of my least favorite. Other than a few sports highlights – which includes the baseball playoffs, and a few big football matchups – not much going on usually between September and November. I’ve got a few family members with birthdays in October and that’s about it.

In school growing up, we had something near the end of the month called ‘Harvest Festival.’ The gym would have a lot of little booths with games, prizes, candy and snacks, etc. And in the evening, the community was invited in to enjoy it as well.

In October we have Columbus Day but not much more. For me, it’s simply the time of the calendar when we say goodbye to warmer weather and get in the habit of wearing long sleeve shirts for the winter ahead.

Of course, the month ends with one of the loudest blasts of the entire year – Halloween. But presently, that’s really geared toward children – it’s something you likely should grow out of by age 25 unless you have little ones of your own to entertain.

When I googled October, I did find some rather interesting possibilities.

In a more serious vein, it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as well as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It also has Oct. 27 earmarked again as ‘Make a Difference Day.’

There are certain other days worth noting, thanks to computer research: Oct. 4 is National Golf Day, Oct. 7 is something called ‘Bald and Free’ Day, Oct. 11 is ‘Take your Teddy Bear to work Day’, and ‘Count your buttons Day’ on Oct. 21.

So you seem, compared to most other months, October trails in the excitement department.

Maybe that’s why they came up with Halloween n the first place – they just needed a big party to make people forget how dull the previous five weeks were.